The present invention relates to the fuel consumed by a combustion turbine engine during operation; and more particularly to a system that uses exhaust from a combustion turbine engine to heat the fuel.
The temperature of the fuel consumed by a combustion turbine engine is generally required to be within a specific range. The fuel may include, but is not limited to, various type of fuel oil, a natural gas, or a synthetic gas. The combustion systems on some combustion turbine engines require heated natural gas. Generally, the supplied natural gas is not heated. Here, a fuel heater is used to increase the temperature of the natural gas to meet the combustion turbine engine requirements. The fuel heater requires an energy source for operation. This energy source is considered a parasitic load on the combustion turbine engine.
The exhaust generated by the combustion turbine engine is discharged to the ambient environment. Hence, the heat within the discharged exhaust is not reclaimed.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system that reduces the parasitic load associated with heating the fuel consumed by a combustion turbine engine. The system should use the heat from the exhaust to increase the temperature of the fuel supplied to the combustion turbine engine.